What have the Tories ever done for us?

[Templeton Peck]

DW said on the Boris thread that they always make things shit and that got me thinking. What HAVE they done in the past 40 years that has had a positive impact? I racked my brains couldn't come up with much so I'm interested to see what people come up with.

I'll start...

the National Curriculum. Genuinely a good idea speaking both as a parent and a teacher. Schools were pretty much all over the place before that.

On a personal level I hated school milk and was pleased to see it go.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Same sex marriage was pretty much Cameron's only achievement. And to be honest pretty much anyone semi-sensible would have put it through.

They did create Channel 4 back in the early 80s which was undoubtedly a good thing. They're just determined now to wreck it because reasons.

 

[Tony Towner]

1988 Licensing Act

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Who banned smoking indoors, and loosened licensing hours? Both of those were good - i think they were both Blair's government though?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Yeah, that was Labour. Both around 2006ish from memory.

 

[Del Woppio]

They actually got me into politics, I didn't have any interest pre the brexit referendum being announced.

I remember not understanding 'partisan' politics, and being involved in a discussion on here about 'waiting for manifestos to decide' or something like that. Fuck me, how naive.

I do wonder where we'd be if DCam hadn't walked off. I think we'd have ended up with a much smoother and softer brexit.

 

[Tony Towner]

Who banned smoking indoors, and loosened licensing hours? Both of those were good - i think they were both Blair's government though?

It was the Tories who gave us all day drinking as per my post above - Labour was 24 hour licensing

 

[Tony Towner]

They actually got me into politics, I didn't have any interest pre the brexit referendum being announced.

I remember not understanding 'partisan' politics, and being involved in a discussion on here about 'waiting for manifestos to decide' or something like that. Fuck me, how naive.

I do wonder where we'd be if DCam hadn't walked off. I think we'd have ended up with a much smoother and softer brexit.

Smoother quite possibly. The Brexit we have was the only one which was ever going to be available though. T-Bag tried the other options and was smashed either by the EU or her own Party/our idiot electorate

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

2015 is the big Sliding Doors moment. Even if it's another hung Parliament with a Tory-dominated coalition (which is what Cameron expected to happen) then Brexit never happens. How they won a (tiny) majority after five years of shitty austerity was incredible, no way that should have happened.

I don't think anyone could make a serious argument now that Miliband would have been worse than Cameron followed by May followed by Johnson. I get the 2010 result, Labour had been in power for a long time, the financial crash and expenses scandal were fresh in the memory, you could argue Iraq was too within reason (although public support for the war back in 2003 was a lot stronger than people care to remember), for all his qualities Brown was broadly unpopular and was never going to be an inspiring leader. Cameron didn't do enough to win outright but you can understand how we ended up where we were. 2015, I can't explain at all. They'd been awful throughout and wreaked deliberate havoc with people's lives. Then they went a step further and completely wrecked the country for generations out of sheer hubris.

Worth remembering that Cameron also came fairly close to losing the Union with Scotland because of his weird referendum fetish. Which wouldn't particularly have bothered me, they should have the common sense to go it alone anyway and be rid of the utter wankers ruling them from hundreds of miles away, but it would bother a lot of people. It's supposed to be the Conservative and Unionist Party, he just did whatever he felt like.

 

[Del Woppio]

Even only he could eat a fucking bacon sandwich properly

 

[Templeton Peck]

2015 is the big Sliding Doors moment. Even if it's another hung Parliament with a Tory-dominated coalition (which is what Cameron expected to happen) then Brexit never happens. How they won a (tiny) majority after five years of shitty austerity was incredible, no way that should have happened.

I don't think anyone could make a serious argument now that Miliband would have been worse than Cameron followed by May followed by Johnson. I get the 2010 result, Labour had been in power for a long time, the financial crash and expenses scandal were fresh in the memory, for all his qualities Brown was broadly unpopular and was never going to be an inspiring leader. Cameron didn't do enough to win outright but you can understand how we ended up where we were. 2015, I can't explain at all. They'd been awful throughout and wreaked deliberate havoc with people's lives. Then they went a step further and completely wrecked the country for generations out of sheer hubris.

Worth remembering that Cameron also came fairly close to losing the Union with Scotland because of his weird referendum fetish. Which wouldn't particularly have bothered me, they should have the common sense to go it alone anyway and be rid of the utter wankers ruling them from hundreds of miles away, but it would bother a lot of people. It's supposed to be the Conservative and Unionist Party, he just did whatever he felt like.

No. He'd have been a reasonably safe pair of hands. Nothing special but might have shielded some from the worst aspects of austerity and clearly Brexit wouldn't have happened. Greener too you'd have thought.

 

[AndyWolves]

I think the Tories have done a lot of good for a particular group of people, I doubt many will be on this forum though

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I think the Tories have done a lot of good for a particular group of people, I doubt many will be on this forum though

Oh yeah, without a doubt. For a kick off, anyone who got to buy their council house for relative pennies in the 80s and have watched it absolutely rocket in value since.

But the lack of social housing that we now have as a result of Thatcher's policies is an absolute shitshow, as is the housing market in general.

 

[Tony Towner]

Oh yeah, without a doubt. For a kick off, anyone who got to buy their council house for relative pennies in the 80s and have watched it absolutely rocket in value since.

But the lack of social housing that we now have as a result of Thatcher's policies is an absolute shitshow, as is the housing market in general.

Smart politics, shite morals. Home ownership was one of the divisions back then that made you a Tory. A sort of proud snobbery

 

[AndyWolves]

Smart politics, shite morals. Home ownership was one of the divisions back then that made you a Tory. A sort of proud snobbery

Before my time but I guess you couldn't be poor / vote labour if you owned your own home?

I guess it also had the net effect of reducing government spending on upkeep of council houses, generated a bunch of income for the govt and helped secure their voter base.

 

[Tony Towner]

Before my time but I guess you couldn't be poor / vote labour if you owned your own home?

I guess it also had the net effect of reducing government spending on upkeep of council houses, generated a bunch of income for the govt and helped secure their voter base.

That was the theory. Essentially sell anything to the private sector to keep taxes down - houses, utilities, transport. People who bought their homes did very well out of it as they were sold way below market value

 

[Keef]

got the whole country behind them as we went off to win the last popular war we fought in the Falklands?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

That was more on General Galtieri being a fool and us having rather more resource than Argentina. Never enter a war for electoral benefit unless you know you can win it, and win it quick. That was just what Thatcher needed.

Current incumbent is hoping for similar, but he is picking his fight with a nuclear superpower.

 

[Tony Towner]

The '83 election fascinates me, as before the Falklands Thatcher was hated. Unemployment was rampant as it needed to be to impose her economic policies, but would she really have lost to Foot? I find that hard to believe. I think it significantly topped up her majority, but struggle to see it being what got her over the line. The public love a wartime leader - see Johnson's polling in the last month for evidence. No coincidence that Sunak and wife's financial affairs have come out when he's gaining strength

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

1983 Labour Manifesto is well known as the longest suicide note in history. And with good reason.